Writer Gustavo Arellano finds joy in the evolution of Mexican food

Updated 11:32 am, Tuesday, November 13, 2012

"Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano's new book is "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America."

"Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano's new book is "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America."

Photo: Courtesy Scribner Books

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"Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano says, "Mexican food is a way of life. …"

"Ask a Mexican" columnist Gustavo Arellano says, "Mexican food is a way of life. …"

Photo: Photo By Matt Otto

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Gustavo Arellano, who writes the Ask A Mexican column, speaks about his new book at the Barnes an Noble bookstore at 7626 Westheimer Wednesday May 16,2007.(Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle)

Gustavo Arellano, who writes the Ask A Mexican column, speaks about his new book at the Barnes an Noble bookstore at 7626 Westheimer Wednesday May 16,2007.(Dave Rossman/For the Chronicle)

Photo: Dave Rossman, Freelance

Writer Gustavo Arellano finds joy in the evolution of Mexican food

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Ask this Mexican what's in his pockets, and he might pull out a bag of fragrant green chile. He'll tell you as much. "I consider tortillas and hot sauce as essential to my life as oxygen, walk through the day with a bag of serrano peppers in my pocket …," Gustavo Arellano writes in "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America" (Scribner, $24).

"Mexican food is a way of life, which isn't a surprise, of course. But that so many Americans, with no blood ties to Mexico, who might not even like the country, revere my cuisine? The reporter in me is fascinated; the Mexican in me, flabbergasted."

Most Texans wouldn't be shocked by an American passion for Mexican food. What they might find interesting, however, is the varied history of salsa, tacos, tamales, tortillas and tequila that Arellano has dug up in his documentation and celebration of comida Mexicana And it's not all about Tex-Mex, chicos and chicas.

Arellano, who calls himself the proud son of two Mexican immigrants (one of whom was illegal), is the editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, Calif. Many people already know Arellano's work from his nationally syndicated column "Ask a Mexican," in which he answers "any and all questions about America's spiciest and largest minority."

Q: You assert in the introduction to "Taco USA" that the book is not a history of Mexican food. However, you have done a great deal of scholarly research. What was more enlightening: the history or the Mexican food you ate as you did your research?

A: The whole book was a joy to write. Of course, the intrepid traveler in me loved traveling across the U.S. for three years and eating Mexican food in different spots. Also, the journalist in me enjoyed the history. A lot of the history really hadn't been documented. A lot of the things had been touched on in the past but not given the historical arc that it really deserved and connecting the stories.

Q: I was surprised by the political history of Mexican food. It's a wonder that it even survived given the politics of subjugating Mexican food vendors.

A: Although I knew Mexican food was popular, I also knew there was an undercurrent of opposition to it. To me what's more remarkable about attempts to legislate it is how food always wins out. It speaks to the passion Americans have for their Mexican food. They're not going to be denied their combo plate ever.

Q: What does that tell you?

A: That the public is obsessed with Mexican food. And also, trying to demonize the food is as silly as trying to demonize the people. Ultimately truth does win out. Food is such a primal part of who we are as humans. When you want to demonize a people, one of the first things you do is demonize their cuisine. I think it speaks to where we're going in this country in respect to the Mexican question. I think it's going to be a good place.

Q: You organize chapters of "Taco USA" by posing a question, which is how "Ask a Mexican" is set up. Is it easier to answer a question about Mexican food as opposed to the cultural questions that you field for Ask a Mexican?

A: No. To me a question is a question is a question. But the important part for me is finding the answer. If it's history, let's dig into the history. If it's food, let's dig into the food. If it's politics, let's go talk to a major player. One thing I try to do with the chapters is break them up thematically and chronologically.

Q: One chapter intrigued me. You ask "How did Americans Become Experts at Writing Cookbooks on Mexican Food?" Can you distill for us that answer? Does it anger you?

A: It's good. The fact is, Americans are not content to travel to Mexico to try the food or the Mexican part of town to try it. Eventually, they want to cook it at home. Eventually they'll become so familiar with the cuisine that they'll want to start writing books. I think that's a great thing.

Q: But should more Mexicans be writing Mexican cookbooks?

A: They should, they absolutely should. For me, I don't find it insulting that white people write books about Mexican food. However, I do wish there were more Latinos writing these Mexican cookbooks. Now that I'm published, I understand why it's easier for personalities to get these book deals. The lack of Mexican authors of Mexican cookbooks is more a reflection of the idiocies of American book publishing than a commentary on Anglos and their love for Mexican food.

Q: A lot of Mexican food history is set in Texas. Are we the crossroads of Mexican food or just Tex-Mex? Where would you say is the hotbed of Mexican food appreciation and creativity?

A: The history of Mexican food in this country has been a death match between California and Texas. Both of those places, historically, have been the crossroads of Mexican food in this country. Mexican food in Texas is what has influenced Mexican food across the U.S. I know I'll get in trouble for saying this, but now it's California supplanting Texas. The influences Texas gives to Mexican food in the country is almost nonexistent now. All the innovations are coming from California - Korean tacos, burritos …

Q: So where does Mexican food go from here? How does it grow? How will it change?

A: If I had the answer to that, I'd be a multibillionaire now. All I can do is note what I see coming on the horizon. Everywhere I've gone this year, I told people if you want to be a millionaire, start making tortas. Tortas are going to be the next big thing. Americans love sandwiches. How can a straightforward torta lose?

Q: You're right!

A: I'm a prophet of Mexican food; I knew this was coming. Give it two to three years. They're coming. And in a decade, Americans will finally make their peace with Mexican sweets - tamarindo, paletas, aguas frescas.